Ontario Provincial Nominee Program is also known as the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. The OINP allows individuals to obtain a Provincial Nomination and apply for permanent residency.
Moreover, this program emerged in 2007 to address the existing skills shortage in particular sectors and provide more convenient investment routes for Ontario. Additionally, it allocated 9,750 nominations in 2022. Its immigration streams are classified into enhanced and base streams.
The enhanced immigration stream is closely aligned with the federal Express Entry system. It manages the PR applications through the three chief economic immigration programs.
The Express Entry system ranks the candidates based on the Comprehensive Ranking System, and those with higher CRS scores receive an ITA for Canadian permanent residence. Supposedly, if a candidate receives a provincial nomination under an enhanced provincial program, they obtain additional 600 points. Eventually, these points guarantee an ITA for permanent residence.
Contrarily, Base PNPs do not align with the federal Express Entry system. Therefore, candidates must apply separately to IRCC.
Ontario Provincial Nominee Program- immigration streams
Ontario is one of the leading immigration destinations in Canada and comprises three primary immigration categories:
- Human Capital Category (Masters or Ph.D.)
- Business Category
- Employer Job Offer Category
Human Capital Category
The Human Capital Category consists of two streams; the first aligns with the Enhanced Ontario Express Entry, whereas the second one is Masters and Ph.D. category, which doesn’t align with the Express Entry.
The Human Capital Category’s substream comprises the following programs:
- Human Capital Priorities– It consists of the Canadian Experience Class and the FSWP.
- French-speaking skilled worker– It functions the same way as the Human Capital Priorities but needs strong language proficiency in French and English.
- Skilled Trades– This program applies to candidates having the required work experience in Ontario’s specific and eligible trade occupation.
The Master and Ph.D. category consist of the following programs:
- Masters Graduate Stream– Individuals with a Master’s degree from one of the universities in Ontario.
- Ph.D. Graduate Stream– Individuals who completed a Ph.D. at any of the Ontario universities.
This program consists of only Base streams, for which the candidate will need to create a profile and display an expression of interest through Ontario’s Expression of Interest system.
Employer Job Offer Category
The Employer Job Offer Category consists of the following programs:
- Foreign Worker Stream- This stream applies to skilled workers.
- International students– Ontario’s post-secondary institutions for those who recently completed their education.
- In-demand skills stream– This stream applies to intermediate-skilled workers, including agriculture, trucking, construction, and support workers.
The Employer Job Offer Category requires the candidates to reside in Ontario and access a full-time job offer on a permanent basis under Ontario’s specific occupation. These candidates must be authorized to work for the specific job and hold a proper license.
Additionally, the Employer Job Offer Category consists of another program known as the Regional Immigration Pilot program. It aims to invite and retain more immigrants to the province’s smaller and rural communities to combat labor shortages.
Ontario Provincial Nominee Program- business category
The business category applies to immigration candidates who wish to start their own business or join an established business in Ontario. This category only comprises one stream, which is the Entrepreneur Stream.
